SWIM can confirm it is easy to get duplicate ID documents if you "lose" one.

Always have backups of these. I know people who lost all their docs and ID in a fire and it took over a year to recover.

At one point all they had to go on was an old scan of a drivers license they could fax people as "proof" of ID.

At least in the places I've been in the US, law enforcement doesn't seem to care if you have your physical license with you. They just look it up, since they are doing that anyway...whether you have it or not. I'm sure that varies, though.

No--in CA you need a drivers license, proof of insurance in your vechicle, or you get a fat ticket.

(It makes no sence because they have a digital picture of you provided by DMV in their cruisers, along with proof of insurance?)

That's very surprising. How do they look up your license? Using your name?

Driving is without a license in your "immediate possession" is definitely against the law in California[1] and I've never met someone that intentionally leaves it at home. Restaurants that card for alcohol also makes this a no-go for most people.

1: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySectio...

In the UK you don't have to carry your license or insurance while driving - although you can be required to give your name, and to take those documents to a police station within 7 days. For certain crimes they can also arrest you and/or seize your vehicle.

Of course, in the UK car registration plates are issued and attached by the dealer, before a car's first sale, and they never expire. So they can find the registered keeper of a vehicle just by looking at the plates.

>Of course, in the UK car registration plates are issued and attached by the dealer, before a car's first sale, and they never expire. So they can find the registered keeper of a vehicle just by looking at the plates.

Yet another situation where foreign registered vehicles are essentially immune from UK traffic enforcement.

That's not that big a deal since the UK is essentially cut off from foreign countries by water (except for northern Ireland, but there's already a ton of exceptions around that...) I wouldn't be too surprised if foreign plates got pulled over randomly just because it's so rare.

At least London is completely full of foreign cars, and it's really easy to drive to the UK thanks to eurotunnel and the ferries.